Another gallery visit, but this one is more unusual. The
Barbican’s ‘Digital Revolution’ is an interactive display of advances in
digital art, ranging from the 1970s, to the present, and goes as far as
depicting the future.
There is so much to cover in this exhibition that I won’t
even try and describe it. That is the point of it: you have to go and be part
of the art to really appreciate it. And that is just what I did.
Entering Digital Revolution, I am surrounded by consoles and
arcade games that my parents remember fondly. But it is not those that I am interested
in: it is the stories, the work, the technology, and the artists behind them. Perhaps
– in my eyes, at least- that is the major downfall of the exhibition; there was
so much to take in visually, and so much to get involved with, but there was
not enough dedicated to the ‘artists, designers, film-makers, musicians and
game developers’ which the Barbican had promised.
That is why, for this summary of the exhibition, I have
selected my favourite things that went further than being just an opportunity for
people to try their hand at Pac-Man.
The first piece of digital artwork (rather than a game) was
Pixorama London by the pixel art group: eBoy. This pixel inspired illustration
portrays the movement and life in my home city of London, whilst incorporating
a nostalgic feel for pixels and an age of technology which is already
disappearing. As a lover of digital illustration, I am inspired by their
work... and I also appreciate the Pret cafe right in the middle!
Next up were some prints and clips from the new Dreamworks
film: How to Train Your Dragon 2. Accompanying this was a fascinating documentary
discussing Apollo, which is the new software Dreamworks have created for their
latest animation. My mouth was drooling just looking at it. What incredible
technology it is. To illustrate the complexity of their new software, there was
a clip from the film which shows a cartoon man finding his long lost wife (or
something like that: I was too busy watching the animation!). Because of
Apollo, the animators can create slight twitches in facial expressions that
have never really been possible before. Now, these very human emotions can be
portrayed, so, although I have never seen the films, I immediately felt empathy
towards these fictional characters. There is now a new future for animation. Needless
to say, I have ordered my tickets to see the film!
(See Apollo being discussed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S1wqaB_l0M
)
Another display of the endless possibilities in the future
of animation and digital art is Energy Flow by design duo: FIELD. It is a
non-linear masterpiece, which is available as an app. Each time it is played, a
different ‘story’ is shown. FIELD describe their work as “moving image
sculptures” and an “experiment in digital storytelling.” It does not need more
of an introduction than that: discover it for yourself! (http://www.field.io/project/energy-flow/)
There was so much more in the exhibition, far too much to
describe. There were interactive displays of the work behind Inception and
Gravity; a mind-boggling, head banging experience by will.i.am in the
form of Pyramidi; a ‘mirror’ turning Mother and me into pieces of art by Daniel
Rozin; Lozano Hemmer burning my eyes in ‘The Year’s Midnight’; turning my
wishes into butterflies in ‘Wishing Well’ by Varvara Guljajeva’; and finally blossoming
into a huge bird with the aid of Chris Milk in ‘The Treachery of Sanctuary’.
And incredible experience, inspiring me to continue with my
aspirations of creating a career in digital art.
Stay tuned!
H x
PS: To get a feel for Digital Revolution yourself (well,
firstly, go, but if you can’t...) check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2AvSiygzA
H x
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